Aurora Oval Map — Tonight
Tonight’s forecast peak is Kp 5.3 (Active). The green band is roughly where the aurora may be overhead; the fainter ring is where it may show low on the northern horizon. Find your city below to see your odds. Source: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.
How to read this map
This is a view looking down on the North Pole, with North America toward the bottom. The aurora forms an oval around the Earth’s magnetic pole (which sits over northern Canada, not the geographic pole) — that’s why the northern lights reach much farther south over North America than at the same latitude in Europe. The stronger the geomagnetic storm (a higher Kp, on a 0–9 scale), the wider the oval grows and the farther south it dips.
The oval shown here is an approximation for orientation; actual visibility also depends on cloud cover, moonlight, local light pollution, and timing. For your exact odds tonight, find your city above. See our methodology for sources.